Friday, March 1, 2013

And so the Love Affair Continues

Guys!! It's been sooooo long and sooooo much has happened! I wrote the quick Harry Potter post so you would know that I didn't get lost over here and now I can really update you. In the past few weeks I finished my South Island adventure, moved in with a different host family, and started my practicum. Whoa right?? Let's talk about the end of the South Island trip before we get into the rest of everything shall we? After our sweet as bungee jumping adventure, our trip went like this:

Glenorchy/12 Mile Delta

We went on a drive and saw some pretty epic landscapes, many of which were the backdrops for Lord of the Rings scenes (namely Isengard and Lothlorien)

12 Mile Delta

I can't even explain to you how much I adore miss Andrea!

Soooo pretty!

This outcropping in the woods just felt like it needed me to climb it and take a picture on it. It just did.

The forest of the Lothlorien realm

Hiding like the hobbits did of course!

Glenorchy

9 amazing women and 9 lifelong friends!

Franz Josef Glacier
After Glenorchy, we drove up the west side of the South Island to a place called Franz Josef, home of the Franz Josef glacier. We only spent one night in Franz Josef, but it was one full day! We went to a cute little bakery, went on a trek to the glacier itself, and relaxed in the hot pots. It was pretty dang great.

We got to where really cool boots and wool socks (I've decided this will be my daily attire at home. I'll be dating and married in a heartbeat)...

(This is my "Really? Another attractive tour guide? What is this world coming to?" face)

...and see this amazing glacier!

It was such an incredible thing to see!

It also tasted really good! Lick a glacier...added to and checked off my bucket list in a matter of minutes.

We felt so rebellious walking right by the sign that said "Danger! Do not go past here." (We had a tour guide, so it was okay.)

We loved Franz Josef!

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

Next up was more driving and yet another one night visit. So, we drove to a cute little area called Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks, stay in a sweet as cabin, and see a beach with the coolest sand in the world!

The Pancake Rocks...rightfully names because they look like hundreds of stacks of pancakes!

We watched the waves come into this cove for so long haha. Oh the wonders of nature.

This was the view from our cabin! We had to hike through the jungle to get to it and guys, it was AWESOME!

The view from our back porch. Ah! It was so so so so cool!

After settling into our cabin we hiked to this beach. It was covered with huge rock formations and sand made up of little tiny polished stones. We spent a very long time looking at and picking up these tiny treasures (and felt like 5 year olds. Nothing wrong with that though right??). I don't have any close-up pictures of this sand, but feel free to come see me when I get home and I'll show it to you. Did I get whole bag full?? Well maybe...

It looks like I'm standing on mud, but it was actually rock. So cool!

Me and miss Elise Loosle (soon to be Rusk) everyone! She is unbelievably wonderful!

Sea kayaking/hiking/going on a natural water slide in Abel Tasman National Park
Let me just tell you that this was one of the biggest adventures I've ever been on! Said adventure consisted of all-day sea kayaking (and let me just say that kayaking through huge waves and strong winds is terrifying), hut camping on the shores of the most beautiful bay ever, talking till the stars came out, trying to fall asleep with incredibly sore bodies, hiking to an incredible natural water slide (pictures will come later), and then hiking all stinkin day to an unbelievably beautiful beach! All the work and pain were worth it in the end!

So ready it was insane!

Go us!

Sooooooo pretty!

It's okay to be jealous :)

I felt like I was hiking through an Indiana Jones movie! This was on the way to the Temple of the Forbidden Eye...

Happy faces, tired bodies

We really liked hiking next to the ocean because it meant beach breaks!

Here's the story for this one...We had to cross the low tide track which meant going through lots of water. I couldn't jump this section of water (and I didn't want to get my shoes wet) so Kylie and Andrea went all girl's camp style and carried me! Bless them.

We crossed a suspension bridge and it made us feel really cool. Just sayin'.